There were a total of 12 workshops and seminars on the subject of graphic novels. The state of comics has evolved. Its no longer whether libraries need to stock comics but which comics to stock and how many. Saturday was officially dubbed “Graphic Novel Day.”
Diversity. From attempts to lure in both younger (pre-teen) and older (post-teen and beyond) readers, to changing the formats in which manga is delivered, the industry as a whole is looking to maintain the strong readership that has driven years of rapid growth in the book market. John Cunningham, Diamond Comics Vice President of Sales said he found that in 2006, 11% of all trade paperback sales in the U.S. were graphic novels. “But you can bet that graphic novels were not 11% of the books shelved in most bookstores,” he said, citing the problem of getting more inventory into a dwindling amount of retail shelf space.
Iron Man. The first film released in 2008 to pass the $300 million mark at the domestic US box office. Marvel capitalised on the success and launched a new ongoing series called Invincible Iron Man, by writer Matt Fraction, and a new miniseries Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas by movie director Jon Favreau. Even though the film was rated PG-13 (for some intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, and brief suggestive content) , the comics remain unrated even when they should be Rated R for intense and graphical violence.
Library Classification. Libraries, presently, tend to shelve all the comics together or by age. However it is important to realize the relevance of context.
Publisher Tokyopop (www.tokypop.com/ratings) has established an in-house committee of three. They are tasked to look through their content armed with content indicators to highlight themes of concern, for readers especially parents.
Themes of concern include, language, bullying, violence (intensity and goreness), sex (sexual and non sexual nudity) to substance abuse. There is a general public acceptance of violence and intolerance of sex. Marvel Carnage series are a prime example of bad storylines but popular among kids for its violence. Hence rating systems must be belivable and reliable to work.
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